Paul
Gallico and Circus Entertainment
Special
Reference to Love, Let Me Not Hunger
by
Noriko
Onoe
Love,
Let Me Not Hunger was written by Paul Gallico (1897～1976) who had been fascinated with the circus entertainment
throughout his life, and the major theme explored in this novel includes the
circus people’s burning love for their animals.
Although he was an American, Gallico loved the Mediterranean littoral,
and Gallico and Prince Rainier Ⅲ of Monaco were very
friendly with each other. As it is well
known that Rainer Ⅲ created the
International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo in 1974 to promote circus arts for
which he had a lifelong passion, we can guess Gallico and Prince Rainier must
have been bound together by their common affection for circus arts.
Since 2006, the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo has been
presided by the daughter of late Prince Rainer Ⅲ, S.A.S.Princess Stephanie of Monaco. And, embodying the vision of Prince Rainier
and under the patronage of Princess Stephanie, the Federation Mondiale du
Cirque was established in 2008 with the aim of bringing together the global
circus community to preserve and promote circus arts and culture around the world. She considers the presentation of animals has
always been an important part of the circus tradition, and she declares as
follows:
“Animals in
the circus are one of the pillars of traditional circus, or of any circus….For
me, it’s impossible to imagine the circus without elephants, horses, big
cats or sea
lion acts. It would be a musical hall
act, a show, but it would be something entirely different. For me, the circus without animals is
inconceivable.
It is like
imagining the circus tomorrow without clowns, without acrobats, without music,
without spotlights. They (the animals)
are full-fledged artists, and I think they should be considered as artists that
are part of the show.”
As stated
above, Princess Stephanie regards animal acts as the essential elements
of circus, and she emphasizes that the circus people
should dedicate themselves to
lifelong relationships with their animal
partners. Her faith bears a striking
resem-
blance to the belief of Paul Gallico who
expressed his strong attachment to the circus entertainment in almost all of
his literary works; in his novella The
Day Jean-Pierre Joined the Circus (1969), we will recognize an old clown called
Flippo as the most appealing character of this heartwarming story. By comparison to The Day Jean-Pierre Joined the Circus, Love, Let Me Not Hunger (1963)
is extremely tragic although it must be Gallico’s masterpiece.
Love, Let Me Not Hunger is a novel showing insight into the British
circus entertainment in the 1960s and dealing with the lives of various members
of a traveling circus, both human and animal.
Sam Marvel, the proprietor of a small but very good traveling circus,
becomes aware that the telly is cutting permanent inroads into attendance at
circus performances. From the historical
point of view, television has begun to affect the negative impact on live
entertainments including circus since the end of 1950s. Consequently, Sam Marvel collects a troupe of
superb performers, and announces them that his circus will go to Spain where
there have been no television aerials as yet.
Next summer, while the circus is touring in the central Spanish plain of
La Mancha, it is overtaken by a dreadful storm, and the big top is struck by
lightning and completely destroyed by fire.
Marvel leaves Spain for England in order to make settlement with his
insurance company, and almost all of his workers decide to leave there with
him.
Before his departure, Marvel asks four people to care for the remaining
animals; one of them is Mr. Albert, the old beastman; one is Fred Deeter, the
American ex-cowboy; one is Janos, the Hungarian midget clown with dogs; and one
is Toby Walters, the young auguste rider.
In addition to them, Rose, one of the principal character of this novel,
makes her way back to the circus. Picked
up off the streets by
Jackdaw Williams, the middle-aged clown,
Rose keeps house for him, but she makes up her mind to part from him, because
she has fallen desperately in love with Toby, and she is an ardent lover of
animals.
Time goes by, but Marvel’s insurance claim remains unsettled. As a result, the animals and five people who
are abandoned in a drought in the plain of La Mancha, face the crisis of
famine. The circus people cannot endure
the agony of watching their animals starving.
Driven into desperation, Janos murders a horse to give the meat to his
dogs. Terribly shocked at this incident,
Fred Deeter, the horseman, deserts the encampment, and never returns. When the hunger is at its worst, Rose
secretly goes to a roadhouse and prostitutes herself to get money to feed the
animals. Strongly impressed by her
self-sacrificing deed, Mr. Albert summons up his courage to ask the horrible
Marquesa de Pozoblanco to rescue the animals in a miserable plight. As this tyrant queen mistakes Mr. Albert for
a great clown, she promises him to help the circus animals on condition that he
serves her until she releases him. At
her request, the dwarf clown Janos agrees to serve her, too, since he wants his
dogs to be properly fed, but, he dies suddenly in her farm. Unfortunately, Toby happens to know what Rose
is doing in the roadhouse, and he turns her out in a rage. Yet eventually he can appreciate her
passionate love for the circus animals including his favorite elephant Judy who
tried to kill her. He admires and loves
Rose from the bottom of his heart.
On the other hand, when Sam Marvel gets the insurance cheque, he sells
the assets
he still possesses to another circus
proprietor who wants to present a bigger show, and he buys himself a bowling
alley.
On the Christmas day, the Marquesa dies of cancer. Now, nobody can keep Mr. Albert from
returning to England, but he decides to remain there for the great compassion
on this lonely woman who pleaded him not to leave her on her deathbed.
In this novel, we can find five human beings struggling to keep the
circus animals and their own hopes alive.
Gallico emphasizes that all the deserted members of this little circus,
both human and animal, are suffering from hunger not only for food but for
love. Accordingly, he suggests we cannot
stand the pang of another kind of hunger―love. And it is quite obvious
that the grotesque Marquesa has also been starved for affection although she is
immensely rich.
We must be moved deeply by the description that the leading characters,
Rose and Mr. Albert devote themselves to save the helpless animals because the
circus animals have accepted both of them as close friends and for the first
time these four-footed friends have given the significance to their lonely
lives. It is necessary for us to
remember Princess Stephanie’s above-mentioned words, “Animals in the circus are
one
of the pillars of circus….They are
full-fledged artists, and I think they should be considered as artists that are
part of the show.” And her words will
remind us of the
achievements of great animal trainer
Gunther Gebel-Williams, who demonstrated to all the audience that humans and
animals could work, live, and thrive together in harmony and should respect one
another, thus forever banishing the outdated notion of “man versus beast.”
Love, Let Me Not Hunger is a compelling novel because Gallico does
not intend to show the gorgeous appearance of circus, but he effectively
depicts the circus people who long to save their animals from starvation. Through this novel, we must be able to
understand the profound role of a true new circus in which human beings and our
four-legged friends can cooperate to display the marvelous acts.
【注】
Jamie Clubb's other blogs: www.beelzebubsbroker.blogspot.com www.clubbchimera.com
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